Diversity and functional characterization of Lactobacillus spp. isolated throughout the ripening of a hard cheese

- Microbial diversity in a hard cheese and their functional properties were studied.
- First, L. helveticus and then L. rhamnosus were the predominant species.
- Three productions had a homogeneous behavior.
- A high genetic heterogeneity was detected by rep-PCR.
- Sixteen isolates species showed promising potential probiotic characteristics.

The aim of this work was to study the Lactobacillus spp. intra- and inter- species diversity in a Piedmont hard cheese made of raw milk without thermal treatment and without addition of industrial starter, and to perform a first screening for potential functional properties. A total of 586 isolates were collected during the cheese production and identified by means of molecular methods: three hundred and four were identified as Lactobacillus rhamnosus, two hundred and forty as Lactobacillus helveticus, twenty six as Lactobacillus fermentum, eleven as Lactobacillus delbrueckii, three as Lactobacillus pontis, and two as Lactobacillus gasseri and Lactobacillus reuteri, respectively. A high genetic heterogeneity was detected by using the repetitive bacterial DNA element fingerprinting (rep-PCR) with the use of (GTG)5 primer resulting in eight clusters of L. helveticus and sixteen clusters in the case of L. rhamnosus. Most of isolates showed a high auto-aggregation property, low hydrophobicity values, and a general low survival to simulated digestion process. However, sixteen isolates showed promising functional characteristics.